SAYONARA TOKYO

Tonight, we finished our tour of Tokyo spots and for me it was the end of my gigs in Japan. I leave early tomorrow for Scotland and the always fun-filled city of Edinburgh. 

Alfie is a Roppongi night club owned and operated by the wife of Motohiko Hino, the great drummer who, sadly, passed a way a couple years ago. This is one of the first places that I played in Tokyo and it is a really nice small club that has a great tradition. It was especially nice to have some players in the house, and I was happy to hear the great Kei Akagi sit in on a couple of tunes. He's a fine pianist who lives and teaches on the west coast. I followed him on Joey Sellars band and we also are fellow Clevelanders (his family moved there when he was 5 and he lived (in an extremely tough part of the city until he was 12). I've written before, I think, about the difficulties of the jazz scene in Japan--the lack of community feeling being the biggest problem. For that reason, it was gratifying to meet Kei and some other players at the gig. 

I have finished the text of my next book, so I hope to get back to the Blogosphere in a more committed way than I have been lately. Thanks to all of you still hanging in there. I will have more for you in the near future!